Subject: 9. Maintaining a clean installation of Windows 95, and annoyances
(Details at the Win95 Annoyances FAQ)
* 9.1. How do I remove (this desktop item)...
+ 9.1.1. ...Inbox?
+ 9.1.2. ...Network Neighborhood?
+ 9.1.3. ...My Computer?
o 9.1.3.1. How do I rename My Computer?
+ 9.1.4. ...Recycle Bin?
o 9.1.4.1. How do I rename the Recycle Bin?
+ 9.1.5. ...The Microsoft Network (tm) ?
* 9.2. How do I remove (this annoying startup program)...
+ 9.2.1. ...programs in the StartUp group in the Start
Menu?
+ 9.2.2. ...programs that don't seem to be in the StartUp
group?
+ 9.2.3. ...programs that aren't even listed in WIN.INI or
The Registry!
* 9.3. How do I remove Start Menu entries?
+ 9.3.1. ...on computers using User Profiles on networks?
(They keep coming back!)
* 9.4. How do I de-activate that dumb "Documents" menu?
* 9.5. How do I completely remove...
+ 9.5.1. ...Windows 95 components?
+ 9.5.2. ...programs "Designed for Windows 95"?
+ 9.5.3. ...drivers for unused hardware and printers?
+ 9.5.4. ...Internet Explorer (tm) ?
+ 9.5.5. ...The Microsoft Network?
+ 9.5.6. ...dumb Windows 3.x programs? (How to use third
party un-installers)
+ 9.5.7. ...old DOS and Windows 3.x files?
+ 9.5.8. ...Windows 95?
* 9.6. How do I stop the constant hard drive access?
+ 9.6.1. Why should I let Win95 manage virtual memory?
+ 9.6.2. More on memory and disk cache tuning
* 9.7. Does RAM compression really work? (no.)
* 9.8. How do I stop the constant floppy drive access?
* 9.9. How do I stop the constant CD-ROM access when there's no
disk in the drive?
* 9.10. How do I set up user profiles so I can keep my own
desktop clean?
+ 9.10.1. Why user profiles is a really cool and useful
feature, even for stand alone computers!
* 9.11. What are .gid files? Are they safe to remove?
* 9.12. What are "mscreate.dir" files? Are they safe to remove?
* 9.13. Can I remove the "failsafe.drv" directory?
* 9.14. Can I remove the "~mssetup.qt" directory"
* 9.15. Top ten mis-conceptions about removing annoying items
+ 9.15.1. How to back up your Registry before you goof it
up
OK, so you don't want the Net Neighborhood cluttering your desktop
because you only have an Internet connection, or your Win95 takes up
too much hard drive space, or whatever. Maybe your system runs too
slow and you want to speed it up. Maybe you heard about some cool
utility that'll speed up your computer. Read about it here.
More important, read the Win95 Annoyances FAQ for more details, if
you think I'm missing something. This is where most of this info came
from. BE WARNED: I do not recommend Registry hacking via REGEDIT to
clean up your system! All my tips here demonstrate methods without
using REGEDIT; rather they use Policy Editor. POLEDIT works with
stand alone computers to directly edit the Registry, as well as
creating policy files. Current versions of TweakUI
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/info/powertoys.htm) also do the
job of removing annoying items without too much damage.

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